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DESIGN.C17
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** E-Mail Desktop Publishing Design Course **
***** LESSON 8A *****
ILLUSTRATIONS
Illustrations can be either "line" or "halftone".
Line illustrations are made up of solid lines or black areas without
any gradations from one area to another. Gray area can be added by the
use of tints, which are actually made up of black dots or other
patterns. Because, like the surrounding type, line illustrations are
made of clear black lines, they can be photographed for reproduction
onto a printing plate at the same time as the text.
Halftones can reproduce fine gradations from one gray tone to another,
they are also called continuous tone. All photographic illustration
has to be produced by some form of halftone process, either by
rephotographing the original through a screen or by electronic
scanning. Any drawn illustration which includes subtle gray washes
also has to be treated as a halftone.
** Drawn Illustration **
Drawings include both pictorial illustrations (line art, clip art,
etc.) and diagrams (bar charts, pie charts, etc.). In either case they
have to be generated by an artist, or drawing program. The advantage
of drawn illustration is that it can be made to include any images
that you want so that particular points can be emphasized or special
features highlighted. They can be used more freely than photographs
within the text which makes them useful for relieving long text
passages.
However if drawings are to be effective and convincing they must be
done well. This can mean employing a professional artist or purchasing
commercial clip-art. If a lot of time and money has been spent on
preparing the document it is foolish to spoil it with weak or
amateurish illustration.
Cartoons - funny drawings have a place in many documents but they are
frequently overused partly because they are the first idea anyone has
and partly because no one can think of another way to break up the
text. Be very selective in your use of cartoons.
Charts and diagrams - besides giving information in a graphic form,
charts and diagrams can provide visual interest, but it is important
that these two aims are not conflicting. Charts can be made more
interesting by drawing them in perspective or by adding tints and
shades. But this must be done in a way that augments the message
rather than confusing it.
Diagrams can be an invaluable aid in supplying support evidence in a
document and getting a lot of information shown in little space, but
do not assume that the reader is going to see in a diagram what you
want or expect him to see. Diagrams, for the most part, are a blunt
instrument and are best used to show trends or very broad movements.
The only time a very detailed chart or diagram should be used is in
academic documents where the diagram may be more important than the
actual text. For more popular or general publications, it can help the
readers comprehension if the charts and documents are well labeled and
the significance of the statistics are emphasized. If when you have
drawn a diagram you feel obliged to support it with endless footnotes,
ask yourself whether a diagram is the best answer to the problem.
Pies, bars, and graphs - these are the three most popular ways of
presenting statistical information in graphic form. Their frequent use
does not mean that they are as easy to plan as they look.
Before planning any diagram check:
1. The gap between the biggest and smallest figures to be represented.
2. The varieties of scale you are being asked to use.
3. How many different pieces of information you are expecting to get
onto one diagram.
A large gap between the highest and lowest figures can present
problems, especially in pie and bar charts. It will almost certainly
mean that, unless the diagram occupies a lot of space, the scale will
have to be so fine that it will be difficult to see the difference
between one figure and another (SEEING the difference is the whole
purpose of a diagram). It will also be impossible to show the smallest
numbers accurately. One solution may be to add the figures, as
numerals, to each section or bar rather than relying entirely on
scale. This is often helpful even when the scale is quite large.
Varieties of scale should be avoided, particularly if information in two
or more charts is to be compared. Too many pieces of information in
one diagram is likely to be confusing. If the figures can be separated
it is usually better to to have two small charts rather than one that
looks overcrowded.
** CONTINUED IN LESSON 8B **